District considering auction of fire equipment

October 11, 2013

COVENTRY â With three stations closed and some of the equipment and apparatus out of date or out of commission, members of the board of directors are considering putting some equipment and apparatus up for auction.

âNorth Kingstown Fire Department did it and put out advertisements to the department of pubic works, marinas and fire district publications because they had extra compressors, generators â for a fire station, that could generate a lot of money,â said board member Dan Lantz. âWe could put that money into a separate account for future equipment purchases.â

During Mondayâs board meeting, Lantz shared how North Kingstown held theirs.

âThey put their equipment on skids and sold it to the highest bidder,â he said. âSell what we can and still use parts from what we canât.â
Lantz recently took a walk around each station with Coventry Fire District Capt. David Gorman, who explained what gear and other equipment is still useful.

He said many of the apparatus not in use is currently being kept behind the Washington Street station, which includes two trucks, two rescues and two trailers.

âIâve had conversations with the chief, including one this morning, and we talked about (how) one of the older rescues isnât running well,â he said. âWhen you get it up to a certain pressure, it shuts down.â

Lantz made it clear that if there was to be an auction, it would not involve trucks because those require a different formula.

âItâs tough to see other towns with new stations, then see ours,â Lantz said. âThatâs why I wanted to be on the board. I want to see things get better for us. Maybe once we get some stuff paid off, it will loosen some cash up for us.â